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===== AIM Evening NEWS for Monday, September 18, 2000 =====
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FINAL DOS RALLIES ON WEDNESDAY
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BELGRADE, SEPTEMBER 18, 2000 (BETA)

Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) will hold on Wednesday,
September 20, pre-election rallies under the name "Contract with
Serbia" in Belgrade and Novi Sad at 7 p.m. Opposition presidential
candidate Vojislav Kostunica will speak at the rally in Belgrade in
front of the Federal Parliament "with support of DOS leaders and
public figures", while "the representatives of all the parties within
DOS" will address the crowd in Novi Sad's central square. Democratic
Opposition of Serbia leaders organized rallies yesterday in Lucani,
Pozega and Ivanjica, in western Serbia.


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GERMANY SENDS BITUMEN TO AID SERBIAN ROAD REPAIRS
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BELGRADE, September 18, 2000 (Reuters)

Germany has joined the European Union's Asphalt for Democracy
scheme, delivering bitumen to 10 Serbian towns to help local road
repairs, Serbian mayors said on Sunday. The shipments of some 835
tons of bitumen of a total 1,500 tons came as part of so-called
town-to-town assistance, since the product, a crude oil derivative,
is subject to an EU embargo that bans any crude oil shipments to
Serbia.

Zivkovic was referring to the EU's Energy for Democracy program
designed to send heating fuel to Serbia to ease heating problems last
winter. The EU has also started Schools for Democracy scheme to help
equip some Serbian schools.


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KFOR BARS MILOSEVIC FOE, ALLIES FROM KOSOVO
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BELGRADE, September 17, 2000 (Reuters)

NATO-led KFOR peacekeepers on Friday barred a challenger to
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in this month's presidential
and parliamentary polls from entering Kosovo, his party said.
Vojislav Mihailovic, the opposition Serbian Renewal Movement
presidential candidate, wanted to take his campaign for the September
24 elections to Kosovo, but was prevented from "touring our last
remaining desperate people, churches and monasteries", a party
statement said.

"KFOR's action is a gross violation of the UN Security Council's
1244 resolution and denial of the sovereignty of Yugoslavia over a
part of its state territory," it added. The resolution ended last
year's NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia in return for the
withdrawal of Yugoslav forces from the province and deployment of the
peacekeepers.

The Socialists were heading to the divided town of Kosovska
Mitrovica for a promotional gathering, Beta said. A KFOR spokesman
said decisions on which Serb politicians would be allowed in and
which rejected were made on assessment of the probable security risk
and taken on a case by case basis.

Friday's ban followed an attack on Vojislav Kostunica,
Milosevic's main challenger in countrywide elections, in Kosovska
Mitrovica. KFOR let Kostunica in on Thursday after a two-hour check
at one of its posts, including body searches of Kostunica and all the
officials and journalists who accompanied him.

Earlier this month, Gorica Gajevic, a top official in
Milosevic's party, campaigned in Kosovo without any problems.

The UN has said it has no plans to facilitate a Yugoslav
election in Kosovo, but it will not stand in the way if the
province's Serbian minority want to vote. NATO said it would provide
security in case of threats by majority ethnic Albanians.


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ALBERTO FUJIMORI STANDS DOWN
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LIMA, Peru, September 18, 2000 (Deutsche Welle)

Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori has shocked the country by
announcing he will stand down because of a corruption scandal. Former
presidential candidate Alejandro Toledo, meanwhile, has returned to
Peru from the United States and said he wanted to form a government
of reconciliation and national unity with opposition groups. Mr.
Fujimori came under pressure after a close aide, who is head of
Peru's secret service, was filmed allegedly bribing a member of the
opposition to switch sides to the government. Mr. Fujimori responded
by saying fresh elections would be held and that he himself would not
be standing. The Peruvian president's 10 years in power, including
his reelection in May, have been tainted by constant allegations of
deep-rooted corruption.


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ARAFAT WARNS OF DANGEROUS CRISIS IN PEACE PROCESS
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JERUSALEM, Israel, September 17, 2000 (Reuters)

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has warned of a dangerous
crisis in peacemaking with Israel as a new round of talks resumed on
Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak was also downbeat in a terse
statement issued after negotiators from both sides kicked off the
talks in Jerusalem expected to last four to five weeks.

The key issue of Jerusalem and control over its holy places
continued to cast a shadow over any hopes for an accord before Barak
has to contend with a largely hostile parliament.


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BURUNDI REBELS, GOVERNMENT SET TO BEGIN TALKS
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NAIROBI, Kenya, September 18, 2000 (CNN)

Two of Burundi's largest rebel groups were prepared on Monday to
send delegations to the Kenyan capital, where talks set to begin
Wednesday are aimed at ending a seven-year civil war between Hutu
rebels and Burundi's Tutsi-led government. Jerome Ndiho,
Brussels-based spokesman for the political and military wings of the
Forces for the Defense of Democracy (FDD) -- considered Burundi's
largest rebel group -- said on Monday that his group would send a
delegation to Nairobi but declined to say whether the FDD's leader,
Jean-Bosco Ndayikengurukiye, would be part of the delegation.

South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma announced on Sunday
that another main Hutu group, the Forces of National Liberation (FNL)
planned to participate in the talks. Wednesday's meeting would mark
the first direct talks between the government and rebels, although
the rebels have met with former South African President Nelson
Mandela, the talks' mediator. Burundi President Pierre Buyoya and his
Ugandan counterpart, Yoweri Museveni, chairman of the regional
initiative on the peace process, were meeting on Monday in advance of
the talks.


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BOMB EXPLOSION IN BELFAST
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BELFAST, Northern Ireland, September 18, 2000 (Deutsche Welle)

A bomb exploded in west Belfast on Monday, injuring three men in
a van and causing substantial damage, Northern Ireland police said. A
spokeswoman for the Royal Ulster Constabulary said the three
casualties were all in a van when the blast occurred. The explosion
severely damaged the offices of the loyalist Ulster Prisoners' Aid in
the Shankill Road, which has been at the center of fighting between
pro-British loyalist factions over the last several weeks. Protestant
guerrilla groups have been waging a vicious internal feud that has
killed three men in the past months


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FOUR CIVILIEN DIED IN JOLO
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JOLO, Philippines, September 18, 2000 (Deutsche Welle)

Four civilians have been killed in fighting in the southern
Philippines, where a military assault on Muslim rebels holding 19
hostages entered the third day on Monday, the government said. A
senior official said troops had overrun hideouts of the Abu Sayyaf
rebels on southern Jolo Island but there was no sign of the
guerrillas or their hostages. The government has said it believes all
the hostages, who include 13 Filipinos, three Malaysians, two French
television journalists and an American, are alive but could be used
as human shields. At the weekend President Joseph Estrada ordered a
large-scale offensive by Philippine troops to move in and end the
five-month standoff.


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NINETEEN KILLED IN TURKEY
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KARS, Turkey, September 18, 2000 (Deutsche Welle)

Nineteen people were killed and 24 others injured on Monday when
a semi-trailer collided head on with a school bus and a truck near
the eastern Turkish city of Kars, a police official said. It was not
immediately clear how many of the victims were children. The official
said the students were on their way to school when the accident
occurred. Poor highway conditions and a lack of police controls
contribute to Turkey having one of the highest traffic accident rates
in the world, with deaths per 100 km (60 miles) driven some five
times higher than in Britain, France or Germany. Some 80,000 people
died on Turkey's roads during the 1990s.


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IVORY COAST RULER ESCAPES DEATH
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ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, September 18, 2000 (BBC)

Ivory Coast military ruler General Robert Guei has said that the
attack on his home early on Monday was an attempt on his life.

Two of his bodyguards were killed in the attack, which began
shortly before dawn when men in civilian clothing opened fire on the
residence in the commercial capital, Abidjan.

The attack ended after about two hours, but sporadic shooting
has been heard in the city. Members of the military junta have
suggested the attack was ordered by opponents of General Guei in next
month's presidential elections - a claim vehemently denied by the
general's main opponent. Shooting began around the presidential
residence in the Plateau part of the city shortly before dawn.
General Guei told a news conference: "Some young military people were
more or less invited by certain people who are known to me to make an
attempt on my life."


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CRASH SURVIVORS DEMAND SAFER TRAINS
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LONDON, UK, September 18, 2000 (BBC)

Survivors of the Paddington and Southall rail crashes have urged
the government to adopt the best protection safety system available
to prevent further disasters.

They said the government should agree to install the Advanced
Train Protection system (ATP) rather than the cheaper alternative,
the Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS).

The campaigners also called for changes to the law on corporate
manslaughter to make it easier to prosecute companies' directors for
fatal disasters.

They were speaking ahead of an inquiry at Central Hall,
Westminster, which has been ordered to consider the best way to
improve train safety. The relatives of victims, along with survivors
of the two crashes, dismissed government plans to install TPWS,
saying it was not good enough.


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FUEL PROTESTS TARGET SCANDINAVIA
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OSLO, Norway, September 18, 2000 (ABC)

Disgruntled lorry drivers brought more transport chaos to parts
of Europe as the protests against high petrol prices continued.

The focus of the action, which in recent weeks has centered on
France, Britain and Belgium, switched on Monday to Scandinavia and to
Spain, where fishermen blocked the port of Barcelona.

Hundreds of lorry drivers blocked 11 oil terminals at key ports
along Norway's south and west coasts.

They targeted terminals in Oslo, Fredrikstad, Toensberg and
Stavanger, all on the southern coast, and two terminals and the
Mongstad oil refinery near Bergen in west Norway.

If the action continues, petrol stations could run dry around
mid-week.


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CALL FOR ASTEROID DEFENCES
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LONDON, UK, September 18, 2000 (BBC)

The UK should lead the way to creating an early warning system
to defend the planet against potentially dangerous asteroids and
comets, experts have told the UK Government.

A task force established to assess the threat of so-called Near
Earth Objects (Neo's) has concluded that the risk is not science
fiction but something that should be taken seriously.

The three-member team called on ministers to seek international
partners to build a new £15m telescope dedicated to sweeping the
skies for threatening objects. The three-metre (9.8 feet) survey
telescope, based in the Southern Hemisphere, would be designed to
detect objects down to a few hundred metres across. At present,
objects of this size are only spotted accidentally in the course of
other observations, mainly in the Northern Hemisphere, which is
better served by telescopes.

Other recommendations of the official report included the
setting up of an asteroid defense centre in Britain and working with
the international community on ways to mitigate any future impacts.


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OLYMPIC PRESIDENT SAMARANCH FLIES HOME FOR WIFE'S FUNERAL
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SYDNEY, Australia, September 18, 2000, (CNN)

The wife of International Olympic Committee president Juan
Antonio Samaranch died on Saturday in Barcelona, the state news
agency in Spain reported. Maria Teresa Salisachs-Rowe, 67, had been
suffering from cancer.

Samaranch left Sydney earlier Saturday to be with his wife in
Barcelona, just hours after presiding at the opening of his final
Olympics as IOC president. IOC first vice president Dick Pound of
Canada assumed the role of president in Samaranch's absence.

Pound, who will chair the daily joint meetings of the IOC
executive board and Sydney Organizing Committee, said it would be
business as usual. "We're just all helping out the boss as best we
can. His objective is the organization should continue to run as if
he were here," he said.


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DUTCH TREAT
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SYDNEY, Australia, September 18, 2000 (The Associated Press)

On the road or on the track, Dutch cycling star Leontien
Zijlaard had won just about everything. On Monday, she completed the
collection with the only medal missing-an Olympic gold.

The 30-year-old veteran captured the women's individual pursuit
title, finishing in 3 minutes, 33.360 seconds. Marion Clignet of
France won the silver in 3:38.751, and Yvonne McGregor of Britain won
the bronze medal race in 3:38.850.

Zijlaard rode a world record in Sunday's semifinals, clocking
3:30.816 to break a 4-year-old mark that had been set by Clignet. The
Frenchwoman was very graceful in defeat, after trailing all the way.

"I appreciate that she got it because she is a fighter," Clignet
said. "She took my world record and she took the title that I wanted.
But she is a beautiful champion."


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THE NEWS
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Evening News edited by Jasmina Vermezovic<p>AIM, Belgrade, September
18, 2000 18:40


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